Smoking Weed And Asthma
The below content is derived from research done using sources available on the internet. Safey Medical Devices Inc and its subsidiaries do not take any responsibility for the accuracy of the content. No medical decision should be taken on the basis of below content without consulting with your Medical Practitioner.
As attitudes towards marijuana shift in the western world, we consider whether asthma could be treated medicinally as many other chronic problems are being shown to affect people less after dosages of the natural drug are given.
Smoking or using marijuana has been viewed as a seriously negative action to take by most societies around the world ever since the recreational drug became popular and widespread in the 1960’s.
Slowly over time, attitudes towards recreational and medicinal use of the drug have shifted significantly in the western world.
People who suffer from regular seizures have shown to suffer a significant reduction in attacks when dosing with CBD, an oil extract from the plant itself as proven in this 2018 clinical trial.
The improvements for people suffering from Parkinson’s disease are made abundantly clear in this incredible video and this scientific study, demonstrating that marijuana can offer far more than what is commonly believed.
So, when it comes to asthma, could marijuana help those suffering from the chronic problem?
Using weed if you have asthma
There are a number of ways marijuana can be used medically and recreationally, which is why it is important to distinguish the differences and what you should avoid.
Smoking Weed
When it comes to treating the symptoms of asthma with weed, it is clear to see that smoking the plant would be counterintuitive as the smoke that would fill the lungs of a sufferer would only cause further difficulty in breathing, especially if tobacco is factored into the equation.
That is why it is a bad idea to smoke weed if you have asthma.
Vaping
Vaporizers have become more and more popular as an alternative to smoking cigarettes and rolling tobacco with marijuana over the past few years as the product has been marketed as a healthier alternative to the traditional goods, however, this has not been proven properly yet.
Once more, because there will be a high quantity of fumes entering your lungs, it would not be advisable to use vaporizers in any circumstance if you have asthma.
The problem with smoking and asthma
No matter the substance, smoking irritates lung tissue as the smoke that pours out of burned material is not meant to enter a respiratory system, regardless of whether that person has asthma or not.
If a person with asthma were to smoke, it’s likely that they would suffer from;
- Increased sputum (a mixture of saliva and mucus)
- Fits of coughing
- Difficulty breathing
- Sore throat
- Hoarse voice
- Tightness in the chest
We shouldn’t have to tell you not to smoke as the health risks are well publicized but if you are thinking that weed could help alleviate the symptoms of asthma, think again. The problems far outweigh the potential solutions.
This study highlights the dangers clearly; “There is unequivocal evidence that habitual or regular marijuana smoking is not harmless … recreational use is not the same as medicinal use.”
The bottom line is that recreational use of marijuana will not help to reduce the effects of asthma, however, using it medicinally may offer an alternative.
The effects of marijuana
There are a diverse number of compounds and active substances in marijuana including various forms of tetrahydrocannabinol, otherwise known as THC, the chemical which is associated with causing psychosis and paranoia with regular abuse.
However, the other key compound , Cannabidiol (CBT) is what is used to treat many chronic conditions which cause severe pain and difficult symptoms.
Once separated from the more harmful psychoactive compounds, CBT can work wonders for people in pain as it has the power to relax the central nervous system, reduce inflammation and increase the natural production of cannabinoids within the human body.
You might not know this, but there are thousands of receptors within the human brain which are specifically designed to interact with CBT, as if the human body is designed to be able to make use of the naturally growing substance.
CBT is extracted and turned into oil which can be applied to the skin where it will be absorbed into the bloodstream, however, due to current restrictive legislation, many of these products remain illegal in the UK.
However, throughout the US and in Canada, people are making use of the product to treat many problems as doctors are free to prescribe a strain of CBT oil, Epidiolex, to treat;
- Lennox-Gastaut syndrome (LGS), a condition that appears between the ages of 3 and 5 years and involves different kinds of seizures
- Dravet syndrome (DS), a rare genetic condition that appears in the first year of life and involves frequent, fever-related seizures
While other issues to be tackled using CBT include;
As CBT has such profound results in reducing inflammation and reducing the symptoms of chronic illnesses, it is thought that asthma sufferers could have a real solution on their hands.
The next step
Despite the fact that scientists have only been able to carry out clinical trials on marijuana over the past ten or so years, there have been astronomical strides in uncovering the properties of the plant.
Unfortunately, there is yet to be a fully conclusive study on marijuana use for asthma sufferers, or more specifically the use of CBT, however, as more and more benefits are being discovered from this seemingly miraculous compound, there is real cause for hope in the future.
